Shipping Setup: Enable Shipping Charges Only When Selected by User

Good Morning. I am trying to figure out how to set up shipping only if the individual chooses shipping. How do I do that on my form?

Thanks

Hi Audrea,

Thanks for reaching out to Jotform Support. I'm an AI assistant here to assist you.

It's really easy to add a shipping fee for your products in Jotform, you just need to enable the Shipping feature. However, since you only want to charge shipping when someone chooses a shipping option, you will typically combine this with how your products are set up (for example, only applying shipping to certain shippable items, or using separate product options for “Pickup” vs “Ship”). Let me help you with the basic shipping setup first:

1. Open your form in Form Builder and select the Product List field.
2. Click on the Wand icon on the right side of the field.
3. In the menu on the right side of the page, under the Shipping tab, toggle the Enable Shipping option to the On position.
4. Now, choose a Charge Basis and define a Shipping Cost. That's it.

If you choose Per Product Item in the Charge Basis section, you can set different prices for each item and add extra costs. You can also select Per Transaction (Flat Rate) for a fixed fee. Check out the screencast below for an example that shows the Per Product Item option selected:

You can also check out our How to Add Shipping Cost to Payment Forms guide for more information.

If you mean something more specific, like having a separate question such as “Will you pick up or need shipping?” and only charging shipping when they choose “Shipping,” please let us know how your form is currently set up (for example, which payment field you use and whether you already have a pickup/shipping choice), and we can walk you through the conditional setup step by step.

Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

I need the conditional setup step by step for charging shipping only when they choose to have their items shipped.

I have a pickup and shipping option and only want to charge shipping when they choose shipping. How do I set that up?

Hi Audrea,

Let me help you with that:

It is not possible to enable or disable the built-in shipping fee in the Product List using conditions (for example, turning shipping on only when “Shipping” is selected and off when “Pickup” is selected). The shipping feature, once enabled, applies according to the charge basis you choose (Per Product Item or Per Transaction) and cannot be conditionally toggled.

What you can do instead is:

• Enable shipping in your Product List so that items that should always include shipping are covered, or
• Leave shipping disabled and instead build your own “shipping fee” as a separate product or calculation (for example, an extra product called “Shipping” that is only shown/required when the user chooses the Shipping option, using conditional logic). This custom-fee approach uses regular form conditions and calculation fields instead of the built-in Shipping tab.

If you tell us which payment element you are using (for example, PayPal, Square, Stripe, etc.) and whether your pickup/shipping choice is a dropdown, single choice, or multiple choice field, we can outline the exact conditional setup using a separate shipping fee field.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

I am using Paypal

Hi Audrea,

Let me help you with that:

Since you are using PayPal, you can add shipping in two main ways, but you cannot turn the built-in Product List shipping on or off with conditions (for example, only when “Shipping” is selected). Once shipping is enabled in the Product List, it always applies based on the charge basis you choose.

Here is what the built-in shipping can do with PayPal:

1. Enable shipping on your Product List
   In Form Builder, select your Product List, open its settings, go to the Shipping tab, toggle Enable Shipping to Yes, and choose a Charge Basis (either Per Product Item or Per Transaction (Flat Rate)), then set your shipping amounts.
2. Use Per Product Item or Flat Rate
   With Per Product Item, each item has its own shipping cost and optional additional item cost. With Per Transaction (Flat Rate), the same shipping fee is charged for the whole order, regardless of which products or how many are selected.
3. Optional: Use PayPal’s own weight-based shipping
   For PayPal integrations, you can assign a Weight Value to each product and then manage weight-based shipping rules directly in your PayPal account. If you do this, PayPal’s profile-based shipping will override the shipping rates set in your form until you remove those calculations from your PayPal account.

Because the built-in shipping cannot be conditionally enabled only when “Shipping” (instead of “Pickup”) is chosen, the usual workaround is to leave the Product List shipping disabled and instead create your own “Shipping fee” logic (for example, a separate product or calculated amount) that is only shown when the user selects the Shipping option. That custom-fee method uses regular conditions and calculation fields, not the Shipping tab itself.

If you can share how your pickup/shipping choice is set up (for example, is it a Single Choice field with “Pickup” and “Shipping” options, and do you already have a Product List on the same form), we can describe the exact conditional steps to build that custom shipping fee around your PayPal integration.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

it is set up with a Single Choice Field with "pickup" and "shipping" options

Hi Audrea,

Let me help you with that:

Since your form uses a Single Choice field with “Pickup” and “Shipping”, but it’s not possible to enable/disable the built-in Product List shipping with conditions, you’ll need to handle shipping in one of these ways:

1. Use Jotform’s built-in shipping (always on)

1. Open your form in Form Builder and select your Product List.
2. Open the Product List settings and go to the Shipping tab.
3. Enable shipping and choose a Charge Basis (Per Product Item or Per Transaction (Flat Rate)), then set your shipping amounts.

With this method, shipping is always applied when products are selected, regardless of whether the user chose Pickup or Shipping.

2. Use PayPal’s own shipping rules (optional)

1. Assign a Weight Value to each product in your Product List if you use a weight-based shipping method in your PayPal account.
2. Configure your shipping rules directly in your PayPal dashboard (for example, weight-based or flat-rate rules).
3. Remove any profile-based shipping in PayPal if you want Jotform’s shipping rates to apply instead.

However, neither of these options can be turned on only when “Shipping” is selected and off when “Pickup” is selected via conditions. To truly charge shipping only when “Shipping” is chosen, you would need to avoid the built-in Shipping tab and instead create a custom shipping fee (for example, as a separate product or calculation) and show it only when the Single Choice field equals “Shipping.” This conditional custom-fee setup is not covered by the built-in shipping feature.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Hi Audrea,

Currently, the option to conditionally add a shipping fee to the product list is not yet available. As a workaround, you can use a basic form element to list your products, such as the Multiple Choice element. But when I looked at your form, I noticed that you have products that have multiple sub-products.

So I would recommend creating multiple payment forms instead. We have a guide here on how to do that. The main form should have the Shipping option on the Product List enabled, while the other form should have it disabled. I've created a Demo Form that you can test out.

If you like, you can also clone the form. And if you'd like to know more details on how these forms are set up, let us know on this thread, and we'll be happy to share with you the complete guide.

Give it a try and let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you so much for your response. I found a way to add shipping the way I want it. The customer will have to choose the shipping price.

Thanks!

Hi Audrea Mouzin,

Your request has been answered and the thread is closed.

If you have another question or need more help, feel free to reply here and we'll assist you right away.